Tag: Gracies

(“And he couldn’t be more thrilled. Back to you in the studio, Ariel!” Photo via Getty.)

It’s safe to say that time has not been kind to the Gracie family, at least in the UFC. Hell, it’s safe to say that time has been kinder to the Sumatran Tiger than it has to the Gracies, and I see at least fourteen adds asking me to save the former from poachers every goddamn day.

It all started when Rolles Gracie shit the bed in his octagon debut at UFC 109. While you could argue that he might have been called up to the UFC a little prematurely (being that he was only 3-0 at the time), Dana & Co. showed no such consideration or hespect for the Gracie name when they gave him the boot. Next, Renzo Gracie was leg kick TKO’d by Matt Hughes at UFC 112 and that’s all we are willing to say about that. Most recently, Roger Gracie rode a two-fight win streak in Strikeforce over to the UFC, where he was upended by Tim Kennedy in an absolute snoozefest at UFC 162.

Unfortunately, it looks like the most qualified Gracie to…grace the octagon in years will suffer the same fate as the former two. Combate.com is passing along word that the Brazilian’s four fight Strikeforce contract — which transferred/expired following Roger’s uninspiring UFC 162 loss — has not been renewed by the promotion. We know what you’re thinking, and yes, it looks like Rampage vs. Ortiz just became A TRIPLE THREAT CAGE MATCH FOR THE WHATEVERF*CKYOUWEIGHT TITLE!

It seems like more and more professional ball players of every stripe are taking up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA training in their off-seasons. Rarely, however, have we gotten much more than general interview references to the training they are doing.

Jiu Jitsu and salesmen extraordinaires (seriously, Rener could probably sell you your own urine) Rener and Ryron Gracie, sons of UFC founder Rorian Gracie, bring us a pretty great inside look at the fight training that at least one NFL star has been doing this past off-season. On the latest episode of their YouTube series, The Gracie Way, Rener and Ryron train with their student and Kansas City Chief All-Pro outside linebacker, Tamba Hali.

It looks like Hali has really bought in to “The Gracie Way.” The 270 pound giant is focused not on getting bigger and stronger, but on getting leaner and more wholistic in his approach to health, it seems as he reveals that he has lost fifteen pounds so far training with the Gracies.

First, Hali does some hill runs, alternately pulling and pushing Ryron, who is on a skate board, up-hill. We also see Hali eat some of Rener’s sandwiches and acai bowls as well as training in a gi at their Gracie Academy.

Hali not only rolls with the Gracies and other students in the video, but also with former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Check all that out, plus Halis reflections on his training and life style over haul and his blue belt ceremony.

Then, get out there and do some training yourself on this Sunday afternoon. Only, you know, leave your computer on CagePotato and come back real quick to check out more later because we’re needy and start missing you quickly.

If the sport of MMA continues to grow in popularity, decades from now there will be legions of fans raised only on the UFC who will have no idea who Kazushi Sakuraba was and is. I’ll feel sorry for them.

To date, Sakuraba is the greatest and perhaps bravest fighter to have come out of Japan in the sport’s history. He became a super star while fighting for the defunct Pride Fighting Championships.

Sakuraba’s prime warring days took place before an appropriate weight class came into existence for him and as a result, the natural welterweight fought light heavyweights and heavy weights. Usually, he beat them.

Sakuraba would, and sadly still does, fight anyone, anywhere and always does so in exciting and unrelenting fashion. He is a jester-samurai if there ever was one, quick with a Kimura shoulder lock or smile. Sakuraba combines excellent wrestling with dynamic submissions and effective stand up striking.

In recent years, Sakuraba has fought on past his health and has taken brutal beatings. Though they make us cringe, they do not and cannot possibly diminish this champion’s legacy.

Win, lose or draw, from lightweight to heavyweight, from Gracies and Wanderlei to “Rampage”, Belfort, Nogueira and “Cro Cop”, no one that has ever gone into the ring or cage with Kazushi Sakuraba has left it without respecting him. Enjoy the highlight videos of Sakuraba and always remember, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Al Bundy may have exaggerated his exploits at Polk High, but the actor who portrayed him on Married With Children, Ed O’Neill, actually has real athletic chops to speak of. O’Neill played linebacker in college at Ohio State and Youngstown State University, and was briefly signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers where, according to O’Neill, “I stayed for about a minute.”

While acting in Hollywood, O’Neill discovered the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He began training under Rorian Gracie and never stopped, earning a black belt in 2007.

“I began studying Gracie Jiu Jitsu over 20 years ago,” said O’Neill in a Metamoris press release distributed Tuesday. “I was actually very hesitant to start, but a 10-minute session with Rorion Gracie was enough to get me hooked. For me, studying Jiu Jitsu has been an amazing experience. In a way it’s given me a second family.”

O’Neill will provide color commentary for the highly-anticipated submission-only pro invitational Metamoris II, which takes place in Los Angeles on June 9th and will be broadcast live on their website, metamoris.com. O’Neill will join his long-time teacher’s son, Rener Gracie, in providing the commentary for the Metamoris II stream.

1) “You ripped it up lookin’ for guns, well, I got ‘em. And I’m gonna beat you with ‘em.”2) The theme song (0:45-1:13), which makes “Jesus Didn’t Tap” sound like The Low End Theory. “The grudge is some guy, who just wouldn’t quit / A heated argument, over some buullll / such.”3) Officer Carter’s compulsive finger-counting.4) “They have a gruuzh, they wanna settle.”

In related news, it was announced last week that Tito Ortiz’s grudge-settling show, Anytown Beatdown, will be produced for the G4 cable network.

Last week, we passed judgment on Settle Your Grudge, an ill-advised reality show that Rodrigo and Crosley Gracie are producing, in which two people involved in a feud get to settle it with some BJJ. Think People’s Court, except with the “due process and justice” replaced by “fighting.”

Do you have a beef with someone and tried everything to solve it but can’t? Did your best friend steal your girl?

Did your old roommate shaft you on your rent? Did you have a falling out with your best friend and have no way to solve it?

Also looking for competitive friends or friends with a problem they need to solve and the only way to do it is to fight it out!

UFC Champion Tito Ortiz is going to train you to battle out your problems in the Octagon!! We are looking for ALL SHAPES AND SIZES to walk into the ring and settle it once and for all!!!!

Both of you would need to come down and audition in our Hollywood studio, so you must live in Southern California!

Casting ASAP!

Can you feel the excitement?! It’s like they used a dartboard to determine how many exclamation points would go at the end of each sentence.

The posting reinforces what initially skeeved us out about the show’s concept to begin with — their attitude that when personal disputes get too heated, “the only way to [resolve them] is to fight it out!” It’s like they’ve never realized that losing a fight makes the average person more hostile afterwards, and winning a fight often makes the winner even more of a prick than he was in the first place. And if you’re answering an online ad to be on a reality show, chances are you were a huge prick in the first place.

Rodrigo and Crosley Gracie have decided to co-produce a reality television show of mixed martial arts, combined with the Gracie Jiu Jitsu flavor, and a little drama. [Ed. note: Rodrigo and Crosley are cousins, and grandsons of Carlos Gracie.]

The reality show is based on true life grudges. Imagine a famous face knocking on your door. He/she shows you a photo. “Do you know who this is?” You know exactly who it is. He/she is the person with whom you have a grudge to settle. Then, without a clue as to where you are going, you are whisked off to an undisclosed location where you will be trained by one of the world famous Gracie Jiu Jitsu family members. Did you know that the person in the photo is also receiving the same treatment? Did you know that now is the chance to “Settle Your Grudge?”

Yes, the Gracie family does occasionally produce women. (We’re as surprised as you are.) In particular, Kyra Gracie — the 22-year-old granddaughter of Robson and niece of Renzo, Ralph, and the late Ryan — is talented enough to roll with her male relations, and foxy enough to be featured on Hot Potato. The first female Gracie to actively compete in jiu-jitsu, Kyra has won over 20 major grappling titles since 1998, including two Abu Dhabi championships and five wins at the Pan-American Games. Check out more photos of Kyra after the jump, and learn more about her at her official website.

Just two weeks after the first death of a mixed martial artist resulting from injuries sustained in sanctioned competition, the MMA world was struck with another tragedy this weekend, as 33-year-old Ryan Gracie — the so-called “bad boy” of the Gracie clan — was found dead in a Sao Paulo jail cell Saturday morning; he had been arrested Friday night for stealing a car from a 76-year-old man at knifepoint, crashing it, then attempting to steal a motorcycle to flee from police. According to this article, Gracie did not respond to a morning roll call: “When I went to his cell, I saw him lying on his mattress,” [police inspector Paulo] Bittencourt said. “He had no pulse and a reddish liquid was coming out of his mouth. It seems to me he died of a heart attack.”

Following the arrest, Gracie’s urine showed traces of cocaine and marijuana, but the Bleacher Report (props: BloodyElbow) suggests that the illegal drugs were just the beginning:

Psychiatrist Dr. Sabino Ferreira de Faria was called by Gracie’s wife after his arrest and attended to him at the jail. The doctor has allegedly stated that he administered the following drugs to Gracie to calm him down: Haldol (a powerful antipsychotic), Fenergan (which has a side effect of sleepiness), Topamax (for Migraines), Dienpax (tranquilizers), and OmniPlex (relaxant). The doctor remained with Gracie most of the night, and was notified of Gracie’s death as he was returning home. The cause of death has not yet been released by the medical examiner.

So yeah, drug interactions were probably at play here — and if there’s any justice, Dr. “Feelgood” Ferreira will be spending some time in a Brazilian jail cell himself.

Ryan was the son of Robson Gracie (cousin of Royce Gracie), brother of Renzo Gracie, and grandson of Carlos Gracie. He held a record of 5-2 as a middleweight in the PRIDE organization; his last match was a submission victory over Yoji Anjo at PRIDE Shockwave 2004 (12/31/04). Ryan Gracie’s arrest for car-jacking wasn’t his first brush with violence. In 2000, he was arrested for stabbing someone at a Rio de Janeiro nightclub, and in 2005 he accidentally shot himself in the femur, nearly costing him the use of his leg.